Die Welt (Germany)

Based: Berlin

Founded: 1946

Circulation: 270,000 (2006)

Owner: Axel Springer Verlag

The centre-right Die Welt is the main quality paper of the publishers Axel Springer, which also own Bild. Die Welt says its journalism is “liberal and cosmopolitan”, and that it is distributed to more than 130 countries each day. In May 2004 the paper launched Welt Kompakt, a smaller weekday edition catering to younger readers. Welt Kompakt is about half the size of the parent paper with a focus on news rather than comment.